How to Analyze the Films of Quentin Tarantino (Essential Critiques)

The Essential Critiques series introduces students to the concept of critical analysis and how to use it to process films, music, and other pop-culture media. The idea is to get kids thinking about what they've seen or heard and, by doing research, learn which influences might have been brought to bear on an artist's creation. Of course, this concept works best if readers have actually seen the movie or heard the music being discussed. But for the films anyway, the series does a decent job of reconstructing them for nonviewers. Each subject is introduced with a short biography. Then several of their projects are analyzed in various ways. For instance, in How to Analyze the Films of Quentin Tarantino, the director's movies are discussed with an eye toward both history and gender. Each book explains the various types of criticism and breaks down the arguments into digestible bits. Glossaries, bibliographies, references, and sources notes are appended. Terrific photos accompany each book. Grades 9-12. --Ilene Cooper